Jared often wakes up from his afternoon nap a good 30 minutes before Rebekah does, so sometimes we go outside and hang out on the front porch.
Mike and I wanted to watch a movie on Friday night, and settled on Star Wars III. We learned that it is a TERRIBLE movie, full of bad acting and whiny characters with poorly-written dialogue, and also that Rebekah likes watching movies, no matter how cheesy.
I knew the day would come when I forgot to put the diaper wipes away. Here is photographic evidence. It’s actually staged. When I first walked in, Rebekah had a giant wad hanging from her mouth and two enormous fistfuls, but I took it all away before remembering that it would’ve made a good picture. So I gave her the wipes back and snapped a picture.
And now, the moment everyone has been dreading: Jared’s first haircut. It’s all my mom’s fault, really. She mentioned on Wednesday night that his hair was getting unruly and it needed to be cut. And then she threatened to pay for him to be taken to a professional. I told Mike that we had to hurry and cut it ourselves before my mom shelled out unnecessary amounts of money and before some poor hair stylist had to deal with a wriggling 9-month-old which, in fact, she had never been trained for.
So we buzzed it off! It looks less bad than we feared. Jared, of course, didn’t appreciate the process and wouldn’t hold still, so it’s still long on the sides and around the ears, but we got the curly mop-top out of the way.
I’ve been meaning to blog, but I didn’t think anything noteworthy had happened in the past week. I was fairly resigned to talking about not-at-all-newsworthy things like how Huggies has changed the look and packaging of their Snug & Dry diapers, or how I sometimes lie down in Rebekah’s crib with a blanket over my head just to get some rest without babies climbing all over me.
Checking out the new diapers. (Sorry my photography skills never improve.)
But then I looked at my calendar for last week and remembered that, in fact, it was one of the busiest weeks we’ve had in a long time, and now I have a bunch of blog content.
Tuesday night I went to the RS (belated) birthday dinner program, which our committee meeting has been planning for month. And I learned that I have absolutely zero relief society talent. Other women ooze coordinated tablecloths and table runners. They make adorable handouts that tie Jacob 2 to owl-print scrapbook paper and lollypops. They remember nice details like rose petals and napkins. The largest contribution from me was the brown-paper-wrapped signs for the unwise virgins to wear. I scrawled the virtue names in sharpie with my left hand. They were supposed to look ugly, and I totally rocked it. But everything else? I would’ve been at a complete loss.
The program went well. The skit was a hit. Everything else seemed incredibly long and boring to me, but there were refreshments after. But when you’re on a meeting committee, it turns out you have to get there early to set up, and stay extra late to clean up. Who knew? My normal modus operandi for church meetings is to take my refreshments and leave. This time I had to wait around for all the more socially savvy sisters to finish up before we could even begin the cleanup. I didn’t get home until 10:00 pm.
Wednesday’s event of note was attending piano lessons with Jeff. I’m playing a duet with him for his recital at the end of the month, and Mrs. Buttles wanted to hear how it was coming along. I love that lady. And I miss attending piano lessons with her. Towards the end of the song my part had a (not at all difficult) flourishy bit that sounds really impressive, and after finishing it she cried “Ooh! Great job, Kim!” in her overly-enthusiastic piano-teacher-y way. It made my heart melt.
Thursday morning I met Felicia at the park. We were best friends in Kindergarten and first grade, and grew up together all the way through high school. She has 3 kids, the youngest of whom is the same age as the twins, so we convened on blankets in the shade on a ridiculously hot morning. It was a blast! I underestimated how badly I needed to get out of the house and enjoy the company of other people! The twins enjoyed monopolizing the toys Felicia brought along for her kids. I definitely want to do it again sometime.
I brought my camera along, because it seemed like a nice morning for pictures, but then I got chatting, and the result were some pretty goofy-looking half-hearted attempts:
This was when Rebekah ventured off the blanket by herself some 15 feet away. The head in the bottom-right-hand corner belongs to Katie, Felicia’s 9-month-old.
This is an awkward close-up of Jared, right after he finished eating some grass.
And this picture makes Rebekah look like a giant. And a bully. I’m pretty sure she didn’t knock over Katie. I’m pretty sure babies just fall over sometimes.
On Friday Mike and I went out to lunch at Olive Garden. We took our mothers with us to celebrate Mother’s Day. The twins came along too and enjoyed munching on breadsticks and Mike’s cell phone. We had a great time! I can’t remember much of what we talked about, but that’s because I was preoccupied with far more important things, like minestrone.
On Saturday Mike stayed home all day and we got to see Kristena! She’s moving back to the Tri-Cities, so we got to catch up with her for several hours.
And on Sunday we went to church with my mom, since Diane was out of town and it seemed only appropriate to spend Mother’s Day with one of our moms. Mike took the kids back home for the last two hours while my mom and I manned the piano in primary. My mom was supposed to substitute as the pianist, but I stepped in an substituted for her as her Mother’s Day gift. It was a riot. Primary always cracks me up.
With all the gorgeous weather this week, Mike and I took tons of walks in the evening. We load the kids up in the stroller and meander through the neighborhood. I immediately get lost, but Mike has done paper routes on these streets for several years and we always seem to make it home in the end. That’s been perhaps the best part of this week–all the extra conversation time with Mike!
Remember how I had all these lofty dreams that once my paper was out of the way, my life would slow down? I didn’t tell you about these hopes, but they were there. And they’ve been dashed by an obnoxious recommitment to staying involved in Mormon Studies and a to-do list a mile long. BUT. I will blog about the weekend.
We dropped the kids off at my mom’s Friday morning around 7:15 am, then hopped in the car and hit the road. The trip took 3 1/2 hours (it would have taken only 3 if I had been driving, but Mike is much more exacting about the speed limit than I am. Something about having his license revoked when he was 17, or something), and then we had to find our way around Seattle, which involved pulling over to the side of the road and handing the map to Mike so he could correct my poor navigational directions. And then we had to find a parking spot at the university, but we got it all figured out.
The first session of the Mormon studies section didn’t begin until 2:00, so we took a 2-mile walk down to Pike Place so Mike could have clam chowder in a sourdough bowl from Ivar’s. On the way back, we stopped at a crepe place for dessert.
Oh. And this awesome story, which Mike thinks I shouldn’t tell for fear of offending people. But I’m going to tell it anyway. Whenever Mike and I see someone with a sign asking for money, we like to give it to them. It’s just our preference. And as we were walking back from lunch, across the street there was a man holding a sign, clearly begging for money. So we fished out a couple of dollars and headed in his direction. We were still engrossed in conversation, though, so I wasn’t paying very close attention either to the man or his sign. It wasn’t until I reached out to hand him the $2 or whatever that I finally realized what his sign said: “Need money for WEED.” But by then it was too late to reconsider. Ha! We just funded someone’s drug habit. At least $2 won’t get you very far on a marijuana fix.
You guys. The weather. Was. So. Gorgeous. Warm and sunny both days. It felt like summer. It was perfect. We enjoyed taking a walking tour of Seattle. That was about as vacation-esque as our short stay in Seattle ever got.
We walked back to the university, got our programs and name-tags from registration, and headed to the Mormon Studies session. I made sure to be shmoozy and professional and introduce myself to people and ask educated questions at the end of as many papers as possible. It’s called “networking,” y’all, and on the first day of a conference (i.e., before I’m worn out) I’m awesome at it. I was seriously on my A-game.
By 4:00 pm, though, I was exhausted and my eyes were burning and I just wanted to sleep. That feeling never left for the rest of the weekend. But I survived on adrenaline, fumes, and diet pepsi.
Friday night, after the plenary address, a group of us went out to a late dinner, where we met up with Robert (who just defies description, so we’ll call him a “friend” for lack of all the boring back-story). Awesome conversation. Mike and I left around 9:30, drove about 10 miles to our super-cheap hotel, and collapsed into bed.
Saturday morning we drove back to the university and walked up the street to a French cafe for breakfast. Best dining experience of the weekend. Delicious. Eggs and a chocolate croissant and hot chocolate with no calorie-guilt. Super yummy.
And then we went and found the room where my session was in, and I spent 30 minutes reviewing my paper and my notes before we got started.
I presented second. And I was really well-received. Lots of great questions (which I answered like a pro), and afterward important people started throwing out ideas of potential Maxwell Institute volumes they’d like my paper to appear in. So it went remarkably well.
“…and so, D&C 59 is theologically amazing.”
After my session, we all went out for lunch at a Vietnamese place. I’m pretty sure no one actually tasted the food. We were all too engaged in conversation. And it was a wild conversation. The publicly-mentionable topics include feminism and the future of the Maxwell Institute. We stayed there for at least 2 hours. I’m pretty sure the staff was super-annoyed with this big, loud group of people taking up their table during lunch hour.
And then we went back to the conference and I tried my hardest to pay attention and look interested and not drift off to sleep. Peanut M&Ms did nothing to help.
And then Mike and I went out for Indian food for dinner, and hit the road. We talked for several hours in the car about all the implications of the weekend and what I ought to work on next. We also got Blizzards from Dairy Queen in Cle Elum, because it was the last hurrah of my weekend eating, and then Mike let me sleep for the last hour home. Because he is a saint.
We picked up the kids the next morning, and tried to appear lively enough to make my mom feel like we could be trusted with her grandkids despite our exhaustion. I don’t think we were very convincing.
…And that was it.
I feel like I’ve written a very boring blog. But that’s only because all the cool stuff about my academic adventures doesn’t make for good blog content. It’s like the time Mike and I went to Albuquerque to visit Joe. Just trust us that the weekend was so fun and so productive and already one of the best memories of 2013!
Oh my goodness. I had totally planned on having a clean slate this afternoon to write you all a cushy blog, and then a million things came up (and by “a million” I mean “two”). But because I have integrity (like Job), I’m sticking to my initial plan and making sure that we properly reminisce about my children on this, their 9-month birthday.
So: milestones.
1.) Holding Our Own Bottles
This has changed my life so much. I’ve learned that the ratio of “difficult” time to “easy” time never changes, when one has small kids, just the content of the difficult/easy time . Still, it’s nice to have some change in life.
2.) Teeth
Oh my goodness. How many teeth does one person need? Because it feels like Jared has millions of them. We’re now up to 6 teeth (4 on the bottom, 2 on the top), while Rebekah still has none. She is 9 months old, for crying out loud. I think this is actually pretty fortunate, because if she had teeth she would have figured out biting by now. Jared remains perfectly innocent of the potential damage inherent in mandibles.
3.) Solid Food
We’re up to two feedings per day. At 11:00 am we serve rice cereal mixed with pureed fruit, and at 3:30 pm we serve pureed vegetables of various sorts. Sweet potatoes are a hit, of course, but so are “Mixed Vegetables” and Sweet Carrots. Nobody seems to like Peas, yet, but I’m sure they’ll be a hit when they’re served as finger food.
4.) Crawling
Rebekah finally learned how to crawl this month. She’s gotten quite fast, and has learned that the nursery door represents escape, if someone happens to leave it ajar. Her favorite thing is to take off down the hall and see how far she can get before someone catches her. And on weekends, when Mike is here to help me, we taken the twins out in the kitchen or outside and they really enjoy having a whole new room to explore.
She’s also started pulling up on furniture, but only into a kneeling position. When she first wakes up she likes to crawl to where her crib meets Jared’s, pull up on the bars, and make him giggle.
Jared is still a pro at rolling (he lays on his tummy, rotates his body to face the direction he wants to go, and then starts tumbling toward whatever object he’s interested in), and has recently added funny wiggling and swimming motions to his arsenal.
5.) Other Stuff
Rebekah is still our snuggler. She loves being held, and she loves when you lay her on your tummy and rub her back.
Rebekah is also still enamored with the buckle on carseats.
Jared is just plain jolly. He likes to laugh, especially in church. He’ll just be sitting on our laps, quietly playing with a rattle, and then start giggling. Mike says he laughs at inappropriate times during Elder’s Quorum lessons.
Such cute kids.
Other Stuff, from the less-adorable Berkeys
I think Mike and I might have stumbled on a new weekend tradition: Great Movies from Our Childhood, AKA The Nineties. A few weekends ago Mike wanted to watch a movie, and I wanted a treat. Oddly enough, I selected the movie (Jumanji! Remember that one? It’s streamable on Netflix!) and Mike chose the treat (pita and hummus. Seriously. I am the luckiest woman alive).
And our ant problem. Remember that? We finally got a pest control guy out here. He was quite delightful. He was one of those that wanted to talk to me for 2 hours, but I didn’t mind. I learned a lot. The most common ants here in the Tri-Cities are either Odorous Houseants or Pavement Ants. Termites are a pain to get rid of, because you have to drill into the foundation to lay the poison. Mouse poison is an anti-coagulant, but you have to make sure to keep them out of your dog/cat food, because that stuff has Vitamin K1, which is a blood thickener and counteracts the poison. His name is Paul. He has a liberal brother who’s a judge, and they don’t talk about politics. He has 3 granddaughters, and he took them horseback riding a few weeks ago. If you have cockroaches, they will be behind your fridge. See? Very informative.
I got a haircut today in preparation for the conference. My stylist was named Jillian. She has several tattoos on her arms that commemorate loved ones who have died, and works for a nonprofit/charity organization that tries to change the stereotypes about women with tattoos/piercings (“they’re not all bikers, sailors, or prostitutes”). Her whole family (mom and dad, and several siblings) live in the Tri-Cities. Her sister-in-law has a cat named Nietzsche.
My paper is essentially done. I say “essentially” because Mike thinks I need to make a handful of changes, and I’m so tired of writing that I’m ignoring his suggestions. I’ll probably do the final fixes tomorrow or Thursday, but as of today I’m pretending that it’s done. Super excited to go to Seattle!
I’m still writing like a maniac. And by “like a maniac” I mean precisely that–my rough draft, though complete, is lunacy. It’s terrible. I’m pretty sure I organized essays better in third grade. So we’re starting over, completely revamping everything, and after about 6 hours of work, I now have 2 paragraphs to my name.
Here’s hoping I can cram in enough work in the next 2 weeks to ensure that I won’t be laughed off stage in Seattle.
And if you’re wondering what my paper is about, I’ve kindly condensed it for you as follows:
D&C 59 is Theologically Amazing by Kimberly M. Berkey
Once upon a time, Joseph Smith had this crazy idea that Jackson County, Missouri, was the actual site of the Garden of Eden. But Mormons are crazy like that, so we took it and ran with it, and that’s actually awesome, because D&C 59 is even cooler in that context.
It went down like this:
God was like, “Hey guys! I made this rockin’ world. Have dominion over it. Here’s some commandments to help you maintain the created order.”
And we were like, “No, thanks. We’re Fallen and mortal now, so we only know how to relate to commandments economically.”
And God was like, “You should try again. Here. Have the Sabbath day to de-economize your relationship with everything.”
And we were like, “Neato! Thanks!”
And then we related to the earth properly, and it was extra awesome because it made the flowers grow better.
April = the month I write my paper. I think I should be excused from blogging.
It takes an entire month, because every 20 seconds I go to “print preview” and gaze lovingly at my first page, thinking how clean and professional and written it looks, wishing the next 12 pages would magically appear.
The paper is coming along, though. It’s full of academic-sounding phrases like “fledgling Israel” and “symbols of redeemed man’s sovereignty” and “contemporary Christian movements of the nineteenth century.”
I’m going to be efficient about this, since you’re just here to watch videos, really.
Jared is still winning at teeth. He now has 3 poking through (all on the bottom), with a fourth visible under the gums. Rebekah? Still nothing. I think the arrival of hers is imminent, since she’s taken to chewing on people’s legs. Then again, I’ve been thinking this for several months, now. “Teething” is my go-to explanation for untimely fussiness. I’m sure it will no longer be viable when they’re 16.
Rebekah’s awesome at movement. She can roll herself all over the floor, spends a significant amount of time on her hands and knees, and can push herself into a “downward dog” yoga position (when her brace is on) and into a sitting position (when her brace is off). This would be great, except that she likes to seat herself between our bed and our dresser, so that when she inevitably loses balance, she also inevitably bruises her noggin.
See? Sitting! Accomplished all by herself.
Rebekah’s language development finally took off. There were a few days in the middle of March where she would say “buh buh buh buh” on command. That’s been replaced by saying “dah dah dah dah” whenever she wants. We’ve been trying to teach her “mama,” but it hasn’t sunk in. Yet.
(As I watched that video to make sure it had uploaded properly, I guess Rebekah was inspired by herself. She started babbling in response.)
Here’s the direction Jared’s linguistic advancement has taken lately:
Seriously. What the heck is that kid doing?
And this. Because both babies think it’s hilarious, and we think giggling babies are hilarious.
Also: Cadbury Mini-Eggs aren’t ever going out of style. But that’s no reason to stop eating them like they are.
